Monday, December 4

It's late late at night and we [Marian, Cristina, Ioana, Andrei and I] arrive in Singapore from a blizzard beaten Bucharest. Corneliu is here to pick us up and we head over to our home for the next six months. Both our real-estate agent and the landlord's agent are there to greet us and to proceed with the necessary formalities. It takes about three hours to get everything counted and signed, and the agents are gone. It's just us in the house, tired but anxious. I am hungry [as usual] and so are the others, so we go to a nearby food court to get something to eat. I have no idea that these are foodcourts and that they are supposed to look like they do. In my mind there's a constant bewilderment followed by wtf preceeded questions. We finally order from the waiter (she's called "auntie" - not because she's related nor because she's a waiter, but because she's older - it's not in any way arrogant or impolite, but I find it truly annoying). Our order includes our drinks also. I decide not to go safe and I order "lime juice", since I had never drank it. The auntie brings me back the juice, while first asking: limeju?limeju? We finally figure out that it's for me, it's mine!!! It tastes ok, also has some sort of plum in it. But most of the times as I later found out, it's not made from fresh limes, but from fresh (?!) concentrate. Nevertheless, whenever my order of lime ju gets yelled over the foodcourt it brings back dark and cosy memories.

Saturday, December 2

Oh my god oh my god people!! 'Tis here my friends! On a sudden whim of mine before the last two exams, and also inspired by Cristina who went home to study/relax/sleep, I decided yesterday to go shopping!

What started out initally as a hunt for the perfect moisturizer [dun ask why or how or whom - I'll talk about it in another post] ended up with the following:

One vitamin e moisturizer from the body shop - I don't know how much good it will do, but nevertheless

One passion fruit incense oil

ONE LEGO MINDSTORMS !!!! I was planning to get it after the QE, but I got it anyhows, since buying it earlier promised that I was going to get out of my zombed state. Well, I'm not out of the zombed state, I am 440 sing poorer, BUT I WILL BUILD THE BEST ROBOTS THERE ARE!!!! ... After the qe that is, right now I've only opened the box then put everything back in. Two more exams, one on monday and one on tuesday [i haven't studied anything for the latter] and I will be in robotland, photoland and climbland ... in no particular order!

Thursday, November 23

Tagged by puck via bookaholics, I must write now what books I would take with me if I were to leave the country for a long time. I have hands-on experience with this, so I will say here what books I took with me when I left. So, in no particular order, since I am not at home right now [YES, I am wasting time at work to post in a blog!!!!], here goes:

Lumea vazuta de Garp, John Irving [RO]

Cider House Rules, John Irving [EN]

The Remains Of The Day, Kazuo Ishiguro [EN]

Diavoliada, Mihail Bulgakov [RO]

Maestru si Margareta, Mihail Bulgakov [RO]

Matusa Julia si condeierul, Mario Vargas Llosa [RO]

Un veac de singuratate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez [RO]

Toamna patriarhului, Gabriel Garcia Marquez [RO]

Stupid White Men, Michael Moore [EN]

1984, George Orwell [RO]

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price, J.K. Rowling [EN] - for the kid in me

Picnic la marginea drumului, Arkadi & Boris Strugatki [RO]

a handful of computer books

Before you ask how much my luggage weighed ... A LOT!!!! But I got off with a smile, and the fact that I was flying on the 31st of december, which I think impressed the somewhat pissed-on-life ladies at the check-in counter.

PS I seem to have forgotten some books, I hope they don't get really upset and start a revolution or something (my room already looks ravaging!)

Monday, November 13

Quoting from the MDA site, answering the question "why must there be censorship": "Censorship is practised in all societies to some degree and in varying forms -- whether by community groups, industry bodies or government agencies. In Singapore, censorship exists to protect the young from unsuitable content as well as to maintain stability and harmony in our multi-racial and multi-religious society, while allowing more choice for adults. Our surveys show that Singaporeans generally find censorship standards acceptable. For example, in the recent Censorship Review Committee 2003 survey, more than 70% of the respondents were satisfied with our content standards. Of course, censorship alone is not sufficient. Whether we are able to maintain the moral tone of our society depends largely on the industry, artists and the community and on what society as a whole considers to be acceptable standards for media content. Hence it is a shared responsibility among the various stakeholders, with censorship being complemented by public education for greater media awareness."

So, there must be censorship because everybody does it and because 70% of the population said that they are ok with the censorship standards. Sheesh!!! Cogito ergo sum.

I found this site after www.ktmb.com.my (malaysia railways ticket purchasing online) had banned access. I did not know that ktmb was indecent in any way ... the trains are kinda slow though :))

Thursday, September 28

Many a time went drunk or hungover to class? Nooo?! Sure you didn't ... Never felt that whatever that guy is saying is going to kill you if he keeps at it? Well ... here's one for you: it's their turn now. One of them is high in class!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, September 25

Wednesday, September 20

I lost it. I can't believe it, but i lost it. It fell out of my backpack in the gym. Now I can't find it. I am feeling very very distressed... My mom will be very dissapointed in me. I fucked up (again). I lost my appetite (THAT is something you don't see every day...) Here's a portrait. You will be missed... Chances of finding it in Singapore stores: ZERO (it's a 2004 model ...)

Tuesday, August 15

why is it that every time i decide to start writing it's raining horses outside (and yes! i left the windows open again)? must be something to do with my depressive gene ... maybe everytime it starts raining i get depressive and feel the need to write?anyways, the post title says it all :) I realised last night that the two great women that contributed to me being a whole, extraordinary, funny, smart and MODEST person today (that is, my mother and my grandmother) also contributed to two of my major flaws (by some - greatest goods by me). My mother spoiled me rotten ... even though sometimes she tried to hide the spoiling. And my grandmother always allowed me to do whatever i wanted, whether it was climbing trees (and falling from them or being stuck HIGH up there) or not eating (i had - and still have - a awful dislike for boiled eggs ... in those times boiled eggs is what little kids got for breakfast, among other things - like cheese). This led to me being what i am today and to the title of this post. So, here's to my grandmother and mom!

Monday, August 7

That's it!!! I am moving to Antarctica!!! Or to any other continent where it does not rain!!! This is the first day I left the windows to my room WIDE open such that fresh air enters my room. And of course, it's raining cats and dogs and horses!!! So when i'll get home the carpet that is right beside the window will be SOAKED! SOAKED!!!!!!

Wednesday, August 2

One of the things that really bugs me about research is that at some point you get to writing. Yes!! The horrifyin' friggin' thing I think most computer scientists just lurrrrve. I personally hate it. It's not like writing in your blog, you cannot be funny or ironic. You cannot be mean to other people's work. You must be polite and condenscending. You cannot say "try but fails" .. you must say "attempt". That's when you're writing a research paper. It's even nicer when you have to write a documentation about your program/product. "The list of steps necessary for installing this or that is" AND SO ON.... and on .. and on.. And then you have windows or linux .. and different commands for them: since i use linux, it's almost obvious that any other student who will be using my program in his/her homework will use windows... AAAWriter's block.

Monday, February 20

Well well ... the time has come for all good men to realize the importance of ISO. Why?! Well ... it's really kind of simple. I decided that Sunday morning would be the best time for us to go to Chinatown and make some fabulous pictures of asian goings. Like you know, temples and stuff, an empty stall ... wonderful, beautiful and close to my heart things. We left home at 7, arrived around 7:30 in Chinatown, found some wonderful subjects... we even went to a fruit and fish market in the basement of Chinatown complex! And when we got home ... surprise surprise! I discovered that the last time i took some pictures of the flowers around the apartment, i set (and forgot to change) the iso to 1000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The results are shown below. Moral: the iso just caused me another trip to chinatown ... on Wednesday morning! Alas!

Friday, February 10

As the days go by this blog is turning more and more into a blog about silly computer issues/stupid research issues. I guess this is what it really boils down to in the end.However, I have a draft for the fifth rule. It is the fifth rule only in sequence, because in importance I think it is the most important one. And the rule is ... well ... this is why this is a draft :)

Funniest thing I ever read today: "In spite of what may be stated in this content, "WinFS" is not a feature that will come with the Longhorn operating system. However, "WinFS" will be available on the Windows platform at some future date, which is why this article continues to be provided for your information." http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwinfs/html/winfs03112004.asp.

Friday, January 27

Why, oh why doesn't Internet Explorer 6 have tabs? You know, the "Open link in new tab" option? Everyday I find it more and more annoying that this feature is missing from IE. Sure, you're going to say ... it's in IE7... but i want it in MY IE. NOW!SignedThe research student with 25 IE pages opened in the taskbar.

Thursday, January 26

This blog comes probably a little late, since i've been a little (if not entirely) away from this world. This is to salute the initiatives of introducing type-safe constructions (i.e generic) into programming languages like Java or C# (one thing that puzzles me though is how long will it take until these 2 prog. languages will merge? and if they do, what will the new language be called? Microsun? JavaPound? JPound? ). The introduction of the generic structures allows for type-safe structures and also for code reusability. So, hooray for generics! For more information on generics, check out these sites: C# and Java.

PS1. I wonder if the partial concept is also in java (this will be my next blog)PS2. Check out the new article from Joel .

Tuesday, January 17

"A hungry, thirsty donkey is sitting exactly between two piles of hay with a bucket of water next to each pile, but there is nothing to determine him to go to one side rather than the other. So he sits there and dies." Yes ... l'embarasse du choix... The problem, however, does not lie in the choice problem with which the ass is faced, but rather in the simple question: why does the ass not drink if it's thirsty or eat if it's hungry? From whatever bucket or hay stack? The answer is even simpler: because the ass wants to die. If the ass would want to live, instinct would take over the mind and the ass would eventually eat/drink, probably from the first stack/bucket he sees. So, when faced with two possibilites from which you most positively cannot choose, the answer is simple (but still has 2 possiblities :)) ) : a. Either go for a third choice or b. choose the one on the right.

So ok, you've packed your bags, you went to the airport, shed some tears (if there was anybody there to say good-bye and good riddens), got on the plane and flew to wherever you decided to pursue your graduate programme. Out of all the unknown or unsettled matters, one is especially important: where are you going to live? And more importantly, with whom? Now there are many alternatives to living quarters, but two stand out: either you live in the school dorms or you rent an apartment.(Psssst! If you are one of those rich guys that can afford to live by themselves, this post is NOT for you!!).The school dorms are pretty ok, but sometimes an off-campus apartment is cheaper and nicer. If you have decided on that, one half of your task is over. What you have to do now is decide about your roommates. The basic question that arises now is this: friends or strangers? If you go with point A of the choice, it is very important that you MAKE SURE YOU HAVE LIVED WITH THOSE PEOPLE BEFORE!!! Having lunch with them everyday, sharing your secrets, talking (and agreeing) about life principles, sharing jokes and office gossip, going shopping aso is not enough! This is because in all these activities you get to see only what that/those person/persons want you to see: their outside image. You can really get to know them either by: a. going through serious or life&death situations with them or by b. seeing them in their most private moments (i.e in their den - living quarters). If you have the bad luck to have chosen friends as roommates and to see afterwards the cruel blunt truth, do not despair! There are other suckers like you! The best thing you can do (if you cannot move out) is to do the best damage control you can for your friendship. Do not let it sink (even though if you take a real deep look at it, it's really not worth it) because if you do, you apartment life will turn into a real shit :). Oh! And if your roommates were the only friends you made in that foreign country ... MAKE NEW ONES!As days go by, I am starting to think that the best roommates are strangers. You do not know what to expect, but you have no expectations either.

I am posting this as a candidate rule because unfortunately I tested it only once. So: If you plan on pursuing a graduate programme, NEVER EVER engage in life threatening activities just before you leave your country to go to your new university. This is what I did, and I am actually proud of it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone (I'll publish the story as soon as I can translate it into English).